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Case example of wrist trauma in keyboard use.

A case was reported of a 37 year old keyboard operator who for 20 years had performed data entry work. She had the habit of resting her wrist on the leading edge of the keyboard during the work; as a result she experienced wrist irritation which included inflammation and tenderness of the ulnar border of the right hand in an area surrounding the pisiform bone. She had pain that radiated from the heel of the palm around the outside of the hand to the back of the little, ring and middle fingers. The pisiform was enlarged and a small bone cyst or calciform development over the pisiform was suggested. There was no evidence of sensory or motor loss, or of muscle wasting in the hand. The authors conclude that the present case report is a cautionary note, and that no significant risk to keyboard operators exists at the moment. They recommend that the forward edge of keyboards be gently curved and perhaps lightly padded.